Johannesburg – Following the devastation that parts of Kwa-Zulu Natal and Gauteng endured in July due to the unrests, the impact could be prolonged in the country as organised crime now have a chest of looted cold hard cash of about R119 million.
This is according to The South African Banking Risk Information Centre (Sabric).
“The theft of R119,400,243 in hard cash is very concerning. Not all notes are dye-stained and millions in unsoiled notes will be injected back into the economy. This money is the proceeds of crime and there is now a war chest available to fund more organised crime, to corrupt more officials, and to promote lawlessness,” CEO of Sabric, Nischal Mewalall has stated.
“Sabric can now confirm that between July 9 and 17, at least 1 227 ATMs and 310 bank branches were vandalised or destroyed in the unrest. Of the 1 227 ATMs, 256 ATMs were breached (broken into using force) and 36 ATMs physically stolen from their sites, which have not been recovered to date. In addition, 82 in-branch safes were also breached,” a Sabric statement read.
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